SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was arrested on child trafficking charges Tuesday while out on bond on a charge of harboring a runaway child.
Gilberto Garza III, 40, was arrested on a first-degree felony charge of trafficking of a child with cause to engage in sexual offenses after he allegedly sexually assaulted an underage victim in Dec. 2022 at a San Antonio-area apartment complex.
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San Antonio police did not disclose the location of the apartment complex.
An arrest warrant affidavit states that the victim was a runaway who was staying with a friend and the friend’s boyfriend, who has been identified as 19-year-old Bryan Longoria.
According to the affidavit, Longoria posted a sexually explicit advertisement of the victim on “MocoSpace” and he was contacted shortly after by Garza.
Longoria arranged a meeting between Garza and the victim and drove the victim to the apartment complex in December.
The affidavit alleges that Garza sexually assaulted the victim and then gave her money, which she then gave to Longoria when he picked her up from the apartment complex.
CashApp records also showed a transfer from Garza’s account to the victim’s, according to the affidavit.
Investigators reviewed chat records from the victim’s phone and discovered multiple messages from unknown males referencing the ad posted by Longoria to “MocoSpace.”
Messages referenced Longoria’s street name “Spooky” and investigators were able to match Garza’s number to one of the messages requesting sex in exchange for money, according to the affidavit.
KSAT reached out to Bexar County Sheriff’s Office officials who said Longoria is not in custody but he has an active warrant as of Tuesday.
Bexar County court records show Garza, who was released on bond in February for the harboring a runaway child charge, has previous arrests for drug possession, assault and theft.
His bond is set at $150,000, jail records show.